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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

EASTERN EXPOSURE

SOUND KAPITAL, Matthew Niederhauser's book of portraits of Chinese indie rockers opens a window on a rarely seen aspect of a regime westerners have come think of as monolithic. Matthew's photographs expose . the same adolescent hunger for recognition young people from Pawpaw, West Virginia, to Beijing share. The Post- Mao musicians captured by Niederhauser's lens seem to rely on the same symbols dear to musicians from pawpaw, West Virginia to Nanjing. That memes are the same in China and they are in France, Brazil and the USA reeks of cultural imperialism, but if the young people in the photos are aware of that, perhaps their appropriation is a form of protest. Turning their backs on government-controlled media channels takes courage in a country know for its low tolerance of dissent. A sensitive and gifted photographer as well as a marvelous writer, Niederhauser's shows the vulnerability of his subjects along with with their brashness and raw energy. Ours is indeed a global village but it takes an artist of Niederhauser's caliber to remind us of the strength of our connections with the rest of the world. Don't miss this rare treat of a book and don't miss Niederhauser's photoblog at http://www.mdnphoto.com/soundkapital/

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IN THEIR WORDS

"Would you not like to try all sorts of lives--one is so very small--but that is the satisfaction of writing--one can impersonate so many people. " Katherine Mansfield

AMBIGUOUS CHEKHOV

"I abide by a rule concerning reviews: I will never ask, neither in writing nor in person, that a word be put in about my book.... One feels cleaner this way. When someone asks that his book be reviewed he risks running up against a vulgarity offensive to authorial sensibilities.''

"Isolation in creative work is an onerous thing. Better to have negative criticism than nothing at all."

"Despite your best efforts, you could not invent a better police force for literature than criticism and the author’s own conscience."